Is Spock going to be the first Vulcan in Starfleet?

[Brent]

I wonder how they are going to approach this in the movie, considering T'Pol's existence on Enterprise. Are they going to say Spock is the first Vulcan Starfleet officer? Are they going to say there was "another" who served onboard a Starfleet ship? I wonder how they are going to approach this....

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

They probably won't mention it.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

I wonder how they are going to approach this in the movie, considering T'Pol's existence on Enterprise. Are they going to say Spock is the first Vulcan Starfleet officer? Are they going to say there was "another" who served onboard a Starfleet ship? I wonder how they are going to approach this....

Why would they approach it at all? As far as I can remember, there has never been any indication in televised Trek that Spock was "the first Vulcan in Star Fleet." In fact, an entire starship manned by Vulcans--USS Intrepid--seems to argue against this idea,

 

[Captain Robert April]

I've never been a fan of the notion of Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet. Besides the matter of the USS Intrepid, the idea that a founding member of the Federation didn't have at least a few representatives in Starfleet for over a hundred years is really pushing it.

 

[seigezunt]

He's the first SHOUTING Vulcan in Starfleet.

 

[dillon3001]

I wonder how they are going to approach this in the movie, considering T'Pol's existence on Enterprise. Are they going to say Spock is the first Vulcan Starfleet officer? Are they going to say there was "another" who served onboard a Starfleet ship? I wonder how they are going to approach this....

I thought T'Pol served in Earth Starfleet, before the founding of the Federation. I can't remember the reference (it might have been from memory-alpha.org) but I remember Earth Starfleet and UFP Starfleet weren't the same entity.

 

[Kryton]

I seem to recall it was mentioned he was the first Vulcan to Graduate from Starfleet Academy...not the first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I seem to recall it was mentioned he was the first Vulcan to Graduate from Starfleet Academy...not the first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet.

No, I don't think they even said that.

In fact, since at least one Enterprise reference will reportedly be in ST XI - meaning,

Spoiler: Trek XI

Jonathan Archer

- I assume that they will treat ENT as having happened, and thus the existence of T'Pol will be respected.

 

[Trevacious]

In fact, an entire starship manned by Vulcans--USS Intrepid--seems to argue against this idea,

An All-Vulcan Starship crew argues to me that maybe Spock IS unique in serving with a nonsegregated crew.

 

[Timo]

OTOH, one would assume T'Pol (who had first been in the Vulcan space military for the first two seasons of ENT, then an independent consult helping out the Earth Starfleet in S3, then a Commander in Earth Starfleet for S4) would go on serving in the UFP Starfleet, in starships with mixed crews for at least a couple of decades before moving on to desk jobs or trying out another career. And one would assume that Vulcan would have a continuing interest in sending "observers" to the various ships of UFP Starfleet.

But of course the movie can still establish that Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet if it really, really wants to. The crew of the Intrepid could then be non-Starfleet. Or they might have acquired Starfleet rank after Spock did, even though they were of senior rank in their original Vulcan organization and thus gained senior rank when transferring to Starfleet. I just don't see the dramatic need.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Franklin]

I seem to recall it was mentioned he was the first Vulcan to Graduate from Starfleet Academy...not the first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet.

We fans have too much baggage in our memories and hold on to too many conventions that developed over time. I think we're generalizing the conflict between Sarek and Spock.
But as you say, if Spock was the first to graduate from the Academy, that does not necessarily make him the first Vulcan to serve in Starfleet. Not everyone in today's military, even in higher ranks, went to an academy, after all.
There is the Intrepid. But it could've been a ship full of Vulcans who went to the Vulcan academy as a route into Starfleet, and of course some probably simply enlisted (like O'Brien from DS9 did). Or it could've been a Vulcan ship with a Starfleet registry.

 

[Skywalker]

In fact, an entire starship manned by Vulcans--USS Intrepid--seems to argue against this idea,

An All-Vulcan Starship crew argues to me that maybe Spock IS unique in serving with a nonsegregated crew.

That's still probably not true, but I suppose it could be. However, the Intrepid was a Federation starship, so Spock would still be far from the first Vulcan in Starfleet.

 

[superstring01]

I've never been a fan of the notion of Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet. Besides the matter of the USS Intrepid, the idea that a founding member of the Federation didn't have at least a few representatives in Starfleet for over a hundred years is really pushing it.

I agree with this.

If your "nation" were to join a collective of nations, wouldn't your people want to somehow be involved in the main defensive and exploratory body for that collective? Don't you think that your government would insist on your people being given a number of slots to ensure a fair and equitable process within that body?

~String

 

[Timo]

To be sure, "Immunity Syndrome" only establishes the Intrepid as a "starship" that has stopped answering hails, not as a Starfleet or Federation vessel, or one that would do Starfleet's bidding. While few other vessels in TOS are called "starship", and all of those are associated with the Federation somehow, the other shows tend to use the term "starship" for foreign vessels as well. And ENT uses it that way, too, establishing a "precedent"...

So if the movie goes the unlikely route of insisting that Spock was the first to enroll, graduate, and rise to Commander rank, the Intrepid can in theory be ignored here.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

To be sure, "Immunity Syndrome" only establishes the Intrepid as a "starship" that has stopped answering hails, not as a Starfleet or Federation vessel, or one that would do Starfleet's bidding.

To be fair, the name Intrepid sounds a bit emotional to be a name for a Vulcan ship anyway...

 

[Dorothy_Zbornak]

I've never been a fan of the notion of Spock being the first Vulcan in Starfleet. Besides the matter of the USS Intrepid, the idea that a founding member of the Federation didn't have at least a few representatives in Starfleet for over a hundred years is really pushing it.

I agree with this.

If your "nation" were to join a collective of nations, wouldn't your people want to somehow be involved in the main defensive and exploratory body for that collective? Don't you think that your government would insist on your people being given a number of slots to ensure a fair and equitable process within that body?

~String

If that is so, where was the Starfleet presence on Vulcan? There was such a lack that Kirk and co. had to repair their captured Klingon ship to go back to Earth to stand trial in The Voyage Home. And the fact there were no Starfleet authorities--Vulcan or otherwise--stationed on Vulcan to arrest Kirk and his crew upon their arrival in Search for Spock.

It's almost like 23rd Century Vulcan completely shunned Starfleet, perhaps for political or ethical reasons.

 

[Ovation]

They're the France of Starfleet?

 

[Kryton]

To be fair, the name Intrepid sounds a bit emotional to be a name for a Vulcan ship anyway...

Sadly, it would be two years before they commissioned the USS Stoic Stoneface.

 

[Roshi]

They're the France of Starfleet?

Quit your bullshit, ok? Thanks.

 

[Ovation]

They're the France of Starfleet?

Quit your bullshit, ok? Thanks.

I did not mean it as an insult. France is a NATO member whose military command is not integrated like the other members. I was offering France as an analogy to those who are suggesting that Vulcan's ships operated in conjunction with, but not necessarily integrated with, Starfleet. I guess the Starfleet/NATO parallel was not as obvious as I thought.